The Evolving Role of the Chief Financial Officer: Driving Strategic Impact and Corporate Performance

Today’s Chief Financial Officer does far more than oversee accounting and manage budgets — they are pivotal architects of organizational strategy and key partners in steering business growth and transformation. In a landscape marked by intensifying competition, the relentless pursuit of productivity, and economic uncertainty driven by tariffs and global shifts, the CFO must skillfully balance financial rigor with a forward-looking vision to ensure resilience and long-term success.
This panel will convene top finance and strategy leaders to explore the evolving role of the CFO and its profound influence on competitiveness, value creation, and organizational agility in a rapidly changing economic environment.
The discussion will be moderated by Karina Lehoux, President of Eklosion – Professional Host. 

Please note that the presentation will be in French.

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Biographies

Filipe Da Silva

Mr. Da Silva joined Alimentation Couche-Tard as Senior Vice President, Finance in March 2023, and was appointed Chief Financial Officer on July 1, 2023. Prior to joining Couche-Tard, Mr. Da Silva held the position of Chief Financial Officer and Head of Real Estate at Walmart Canada, from April 2020 to March 2023 and CFO of Central America from April 2016 to January 2021.
Previously, Mr. Da Silva held various management positions within TotalEnergies, a French energy conglomerate, in Argentina, followed by Carrefour, a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation, working out of Buenos Aires, Colombia, India and Indonesia. He later joined Groupe Exito, one of South America’s largest retailers before joining Walmart in 2016 as CFO for Central America operations.
Mr. Da Silva holds a Masters in Strategy and Finance from ESCP Business School.
 

John Di Bert

John Di Bert became Air Canada’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in July 2023. He has oversight for Air Canada's overall financial strategic direction, comprising all aspects of financial reporting and planning, investor relations, treasury and controller's operations, taxation, pension administration, internal audit, fleet, procurement, corporate real estate and commercial legal services.

A transformative corporate leader and Chief Financial Executive for large capitalization global public companies in complex industries, John previously held positions as Chief Financial Officer at Clarios International in addition to extensive senior executive finance leadership roles within the aerospace and transportation sectors. He was Chief Financial Officer for both Bombardier and Pratt & Whitney Canada where he managed total enterprise performance, executed M&A strategies, led debt and equity capital markets transactions and strategic planning.

While at Pratt & Whitney Canada, John also served as Vice President, customer service, where he led all commercial and operational aspects of the corporation’s aftermarket business, sales, customer and product support. Earlier in his career, he held progressively senior finance positions at Rolls-Royce Canada and KPMG.

John is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a member of the Order of Chartered Professional Accountants of Quebec. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Graduate Diploma in Accountancy from Concordia University in Montreal. He is also a graduate of the CFO Leadership Program at Harvard Business School, and of the Senior Executive Program at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.

John has received numerous honours in his career, including being named as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2009. He is a board member with privately held aerospace and technology businesses as well as non-profit organizations including as a United Way/Centraide campaign sector chair and board member for En Coeur. 

Melissa Gilbert

Melissa Gilbert is the Executive Vice President and Lead, Finance at Beneva. She has been a key player of the team that made possible the creation of this new entity, which resulted from the merger of La Capitale and SSQ Insurance. Previously, she was Executive Vice President – Finance, Corporate Actuarial and Risk Management at La Capitale Insurance and Financial Services since December 2018. In the previous 12 years, she has held the Chief Financial Officer position for different companies, and she worked as a transaction advisory director for Ernst & Young in Calgary. In these various roles, she has participated in several corporate acquisitions, investment and restructuring plans, the opening of international subsidiaries and Taleo's initial public offering on NASDAQ. Melissa received the 2012 Excellence Award of Reseau HEC, the 2015 Arista Young Executive of the province Award from the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Montreal, a Best Executive Award 2021 from The Globe & Mail, the 2022 FEI Canada Ace of Finance Large Corporation Award and the prize for financial personality of the year and winner in the leaders/executives category of the 2022 edition of the Top leaders in Finance and Investment. During her career, she has also been involved in various boards of directors and committees. She is currently on the board of directors of Investissement Quebec, PolR Corp and Fondation du Musée de la Civilisation. She is a Certified Corporate Director (ASC) and a Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA).

Biographies 2025